


In the Stars

by miraellie



Series: Burden of Shadows Side Stories [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, Shameless excuse for fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 16:38:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17832233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraellie/pseuds/miraellie
Summary: Ardyn and Elpis meet a matchmaker.





	In the Stars

"Lady Elpis!”

Elpis turned at the sound of the voice and accompanying footsteps. A young girl, no older than thirteen, ran up to her, her light brown hair flying in the wind. Given that she was smiling, Elpis did not worry that her skills as a healer were needed just then. Delphina clearly had something good to tell her.

“Dephina,” Elpis said with a small smile. She shifted the basket full of plants in her arm; she had been out picking new supplies for Ardyn’s potions. “What has you in such high spirits?”

“In the marketplace, there’s a woman who says she’s from a desert tribe,” Delphina said in between catching her breath. “We’ve never seen her before!”

Mildly, Elpis said, “Well, others do not share my tribe’s rule against leaving the desert. Still, it’s very exciting to meet new people, isn’t it?”

Grinning, Delphina’s blue eyes shone in the dim firelight. “She’s reading fortunes!”

Elpis gave the girl a sidelong look. There were no tribes who had such a practice. In most, fortune was considered best left to the Astrals; her own tribe did not believe in things such as fate. Delphina had misunderstood in a child’s way--in the way of an outsider. It was always easy to embellish things that were unknown and exotic. Such was the outsider way.

She had lived amongst them for years now, and yet Elpis still sometimes felt disconnected from them. From everyone save Ardyn.

“I see,” Elpis said as an orange cat ran past her, chasing a mouse. “Did you have your fortune read?”

Delphina scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. “No. Mama says it’s all superstitious nonsense that goes against the Astrals.”

“Your esteemed mother is a wise woman,” Elpis said, smiling at Delphina’s look of dismay. “Do not hate her. She only means well for you. She nearly lost you once to the Scourge; forgive her if she is protective of you now.”

“Ugh,” Delphina said. “Now I feel guilty. That’s not fair!”

Elpis laughed slightly. “Still, thank you for telling me about this, Delphina. For thinking of me. I do appreciate it.”

Pink stained Delphina’s cheeks as she looked down at the ground and shifted. “Um, n-no, it’s... fine.”

 _Oh dear,_ Elpis thought as she tried to hold back a laugh. The girl apparently had a crush on her.

“Return to your mother before she begins to worry. May the light protect you.”

“And you,” Delphina said as she bowed and made a hasty retreat, her cheeks still red.

For a while, Elpis only stood in place, gaze on the blackened sky. It had been a long time since she’d last spoken to anyone from the desert. She longed for someone who would understand things the way her friends did not. Even with Ardyn, there was still sometimes a wall between their cultures and their understanding of the other.

Besides, as something of a leader in the ruins of Solheim, Elpis would have to meet the woman eventually. She and Ardyn greeted every new soul that came to Solheim together.

“Well,” Elpis said to herself, “I may as well go see what the fuss is about.”

* * *

She found Ardyn in the marketplace, standing off by himself as he watched people flock to the desert woman. Feeling impish, Elpis approached him from behind, then stood on tiptoe to cover his eyes with her hands.

“What’s this?” she said into his ear. “You are not surrounded by adoring fans for once, and I get to have you to myself?”

Ardyn laughed quietly and turned to take her hands in his, kissing her palms. He gazed down at her with his dark blue eyes full of love. “Alas, there’s someone who is far more interesting to our people than I am.”

Elpis made a show of looking around, then furrowed her brow at him. “I see no such person.”

He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up. “You’ll hate me for this,” he said, “but I cannot let it be unsaid: It’s because you only have eyes for me.”

Her groan turned into a laugh as Ardyn leaned down to kiss her sweetly. They lingered in the kiss, breathing each other in, feeling the other’s heart beating beneath their fingers, until someone let out a loud, appreciative whistle. They broke apart as Somnus and Adeo approached. Somnus was looking everywhere except at his brother and Elpis; Adeo grinned at them broadly. Clearly, he had been the one to whistle.

“Have some decency, brother,” Somnus muttered.

“What’s more decent than letting everyone see how much we care for each other?” Ardyn said without remorse. He pulled Elpis close, arm around her waist, his fingers squeezing into her skin. “Besides, I dislike how the baker’s brother has been looking at her of late--”

“Oh, hush,” Elpis said. “As if I’d ever consider anyone else.”

Somnus groaned while Adeo laughed. “I like to wait and see how long it takes before he starts vomiting,” Adeo said to them.

“Well, off with you,” Ardyn said, a hint of mock anger in his tone. “I will not permit you to use my beloved and I as a means to make my brother sick.”

She cast a glance over her shoulder to where the woman was. The crowd had begun to thin.

“Ardyn,” she said, pulling away. “I’m going to see the lady.”

He nodded and let her go, holding on to her hand until she walked out of his reach. Elpis approached the few people still standing by the woman, who had laid an intricately woven blanket on the ground and set cushions on it. Elpis’ heart immediately yearned to feel the threads of the blanket. Her gaze followed the trails of the pattern, from the red of the flames to the golden wings to the dark grey of ashes from which the phoenix rose. The skill of the weaving far exceeded anything Elpis had ever managed to make.

“Well,” a voice huffed, “don’t stand there catching flies with your mouth, child. Come here.”

Elpis startled in surprise as she came out of her thoughts. The people had parted, and now it was only she and the older woman. Her hair was white and set in thick braids that she wound around the top of her head. Colored beads were set on her braids at various points and Elpis read their meanings easily; white for a widow, blue for a mother, purple for a grandmother, and red for a woman of high birth. Her dark black skin looked soft and wrinkles lined every part of her face. Her gaze was sharp, inscrutable, but not necessarily unkind.

She immediately felt at home with this woman.

“Of course, esteemed grandmother,” Elpis said, kicking off her sandals at the edge of the woman’s blanket before setting foot on it. She bowed deeply before sitting cross-legged on one of the cushions. The scent of desert flowers wafted up to her and Elpis took a moment to breathe in deeply.

Gods, she missed her home.

The woman eyed her in the way all older women did to those younger than they: Critical, but only because they cared. “You are long without your blood,” the woman said in the shared language of the tribes.

Elpis’ heart lifted. “Yes,” she responded in kind, the words flowing from her effortlessly. “It has been many years since I left the desert.”

“Ah,” the woman said. “From which tribe do you hail?”

“I belonged to Izunia. I am the Head Priestess’ Eldest Daughter.”

The woman nodded slowly as she lit a pipe and began smoking it. “We heard tales of you,” she said. “The wayward daughter who set foot into the darkness to save her people. Who was cast out for bringing outsiders in.” She scoffed. “A stupid tradition for your tribe to have.”

Elpis did not refute the older woman, because it simply wasn’t done. And secretly, she agreed.

“I am Nenat of the Zenais tribe.”

“Well met, grandmother. What brings you to Solheim?”

“I grew tired of my daughter having babies year after year,” Nenat grumbled. “I’m supposed to be resting in my age, and I ask you, how can one rest when there are twelve grandchildren running about and their mother is unable to catch them because she is with her thirteenth? And her husband--pah! Always too busy, he says. He clearly wasn’t busy when he got my daughter with those children.”

Elpis bit back her smile. “She’s been greatly blessed.”

“She’s been greatly stupid.”

“As you say,” Elpis said. “I am glad to see you made it here unharmed by the daemons.”

Nenat waved a hand sharply. “I had guards with me. My son-by-law couldn’t wait to get rid of me. And I couldn’t wait to get rid of him.” A crease appeared between her brow. “It is quieter in this city than I’d thought. From the stories we hear, I thought the outside lands to be swarming with daemons.”

“It is still dangerous,” Elpis said. “But... yes, I have noticed things slowing down as well in that regard.”

She’d no wish to talk about daemons. They consumed every part of her life, even her relationship with Ardyn. For once, Elpis wanted to ignore them. “So, I hear you’ve been giving fortunes,” Elpis said lightly.

Nenat rolled her eyes. “Is that what they’re saying of me? It figures. I could hand these outsiders some mangled piece of weaving my grandchildren made, tell them it’s a sacred item to ward off evil, and they’d believe it without a second thought.”

Elpis laughed. From behind her, she could hear footsteps approaching, and turned to smile up at Ardyn. He gazed down at her affectionately.

“And what,” he said, “has my love laughing so much?”

“Nothing,” Elpis said, switching back to the Solheim language. She stopped him before he joined her. “No, take your sandals off first.”

He complied without reacting, and she loved him for it. Ardyn eschewed the other cushion and instead sat right next to Elpis, so close their arms were touching. Nenat eyed the contact with a neutral expression.

“Grandmother,” Elpis said, “this is Ardyn Lucis Caelum, the healer.”

He bowed his head deeply. “You’re related to Lady Elpis?”

“No,” Elpis said. “It’s a title of respect. She’s from a different tribe than I.”

Ardyn smiled politely. “I’m glad you were able to make it here unharmed.”

Nenat snorted and replied in the same language, “I’m not scared of daemons, boy.” She nodded her head to Elpis before Ardyn could respond. “No, child, I was a matchmaker in my tribe. I was giving the outsiders their match. It’s not my fault if they consider damn common sense to be reading fortunes. Nonsense.”

Ardyn looked to Elpis. “You have matchmakers?”

Absently, she brushed some of his long brown-black hair behind his ear. She liked having a clear view of his face and neck. She hadn’t even realized she’d done it until she saw Nenat raise an eyebrow. Still, she felt no shame in her action, and so kept her hand on his shoulder.

“Yes, though they vary from tribe to tribe,” Elpis said. Noting his small frown, she hesitantly said, “You disapprove?”

“Not quite,” Ardyn said. “Far be it for me to cast judgment on a custom I don’t understand. In Solheim, however, we’re free to choose our partners. Sometimes matches were made purely to benefit both families politically or financially, of course, but that was more for the richer families...”

Of which Ardyn had been one, Elpis remembered. Suddenly, she wondered if he’d had a finacee before she’d come into his life -- before the War and the Scourge happened and upended their world. She had never thought of herself as a jealous sort before, so the stab of that exact emotion was a surprise.

Elpis wondered if the other woman had been a fair maiden, blue eyed and blonde of hair. It seemed to be the preferred ideal of beauty in Solheim now, instead of the flame haired women that were favored when Ifrit was in power. Strange to think that Elpis was considered a beauty in her own land whereas in Solheim, the most polite word she’d heard used was “different”.

“Yes, because marriages made with money and politics in mind have always ended well,” Nenat said mildly.

Ardyn must have realized his misstep for he bowed his head and said, “I beg your pardon, ma’am. To be sure, it did not fare well for some. If you’d be so kind as tell me a little about your position, so that I won’t make a jackass of myself again?”

“I have a limited amount of time left on this realm and you want me to use some of it teaching you a way that you’ve no business knowing?” Nenat sniffed. Ardyn’s face creased in worry and it took everything Elpis had not to tell him that Nenat wasn’t truly offended. “Fine. In the Zenais tribe, I take the birth dates of however many people are in the relationship and predict their troubles and successes based on their traits.”

She took a long hit of her pipe and Ardyn cautiously said, “Is that... all?”

Nenat rose an eyebrow. “What, do you want there to be blood involved as well? Yes, that’s all.”

Elpis covered her laugh with her hand at Ardyn’s befuddled look. Truly, that wasn’t all there was to a match casting -- some tribes did use blood type. Some things were not for outsiders to know. And perhaps in the Zenais tribe, that truly was all Nenat would need.

Ardyn leaned forward, suddenly looking intent. “If I asked you to do a prediction for me, would you?”

“What are you willing to pay?” Nenat asked.

“Whatever you name, ma’am.”

Unimpressed, Nenat looked to Elpis. In the common desert language she said, “You need to teach your man not to speak so wildly. There are some Messengers and other beings who would ask for the still beating heart out of his chest.”

Elpis raised an eyebrow. “I could tell him this,” she said, “and I do not know that it would make any difference. He would still go risking everything if he thought it meant something, such as the ensured safety of his people.”

“Ifrit save us from damn fools, and from ourselves for loving them,” Nenat sighed. She switched back to Solheiman. “I’ll do it if your lady agrees.”

“I do,” Elpis said. She hadn’t had a casting since she’d passed her thirteenth sunturning. It had not been one to match her to anyone, for as Eldest Daughter, she had her choice of suitors so long as they came from another tribe. It had simply been one to examine what paths her life might take.

She’d been told she was promised for greatness. Elpis supposed she had Bahamut to thank for that.

“All right,” Nenat said as she looked to Elpis first. “Your birth date?”

“August thirtieth.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ardyn look at her in surprise. Nenat asked him the same question before he could say anything else, however. “Ah--April thirtieth.”

Elpis blinked. How strange it was that their birthdates would fall on the thirtieth of a month.

Nenat made a ponderous noise, causing Ardyn to fidget nervously. Elpis put her hand on his and gave him a small smile. She should have said Nenat was deliberately acting obtuse to make him anxious, but just touching him seemed to relax him enough that she saw no need.

The woman pointed her pipe to Elpis. “You fall under the Archaean’s realm. The earth is your element. People of your date tend to be loyal and kind, annoying practical, and hardworking to a fault. Let me see your hand, child.”

Elpis held out her hand without question and stayed silent as Nenat studied it.

“Hmph. As I thought.” Nenat waved her hand away. “Skin like a lizard’s, short, battered nails -- you overwork yourself.”

Ardyn leaned in to whisper into her ear, “I _like_ your hands.”

Nenat slapped his knee hard. “Shut up.” To Elpis she said, “You’re also not known to ask for help in anything, even when you should. You consider it rude and calling too much attention to yourself.”

Elpis bowed her head. “I confess that’s all true,” she said.

“But that could just as easily be from her role as Eldest Daughter,” Ardyn said mildly, then immediately shut up when Nenat fixed him with a dark look.

“Did I say the day of your birth decides every single aspect of you? No,” Nenat said. “It is a mix of traits given to you by the stars and by the life you lead. This is why we do casting often at certain ages. Things change. Now, are you going to interrupt with some more Solheiman foolishness, or may I continue?”

When Ardyn only bowed his head respectfully, Nenat huffed and straightened her back as she focused her attention on Elpis once more. “Your heart is tender and so you guard it from the outside world, as any smart woman should. Only a few have ever made it beyond your walls. You look for goodness in people even when you should know better. Thus, when you’re betrayed, you take it harder than most.”

Elpis thought of how her mother had kept to the rules of their tribe and cast her out. She still found herself crying at times, though it had happened years ago now. No, she didn’t trust people easily, and though she always hoped for the best, it hurt when she was proven wrong.

She felt Ardyn squeeze her hand reassuringly and smiled to herself. Now there was a man Elpis knew would never betray her. He would rather die first.

Nenat pulled a bag from her belt whose contents clicked as she opened it. She dug around for a moment, then handed Elpis three stones: Carnelian, Sardonyx, and Agate. The Carnelian was brilliant orange that almost matched her headscarf; the Agate, a brilliant blue that brought to mind a clear midday sky over the desert.

Elpis smiled as she held up the Sardonyx for Ardyn to see. “It reminds me of the mountains in the desert,” she said as she ran a fingertip over one of the lighter lines in the stone. “The different layers of dirt and how they create lines in the rock face.”

“Hmm,” Ardyn said. “It’s beautiful. As you are.”

“Careful,” Nenat said mildly, “that’s how my daughter ended up with twelve children.”

Ardyn jerked away from Elpis, who started laughing. He wasn’t one to blush often, but his cheeks went red as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

“Grandmother,” Elpis managed to reprimand once she’d stopped laughing. “Please.”

“Oh, fine. Deny me any kind of fun, why don’t you?” Nenat said. “You don’t look as if you wear jewels any more, so do with those stones what you may.” She turned to Ardyn with a critical eye. “Now. You.”

Ardyn seemed to shrink under her gaze. “Ah... yes?”

“You also fall under the Archaean’s realm,” Nenat said, though it sounded as if she disapproved that he did. “You’re mostly known for your stubbornness.”

A snort escaped Elpis before she could stop it. Ardyn gave her a dry look.

“El.”

“S-sorry,” she giggled from behind her hand.

Nenat eyed them with a hint of interest before continuing. “As I was saying, you’re stubborn, uncompromising, and you can be possessive of the things you perceive as yours.”

A small shiver ran down Elpis’ spine. Was Ardyn possessive of her? She found she didn’t entirely dislike the idea. Perhaps because she was secretly possessive of him as well.

Nenat sighed as if it were annoying to admit the next part: “But you’re reliable,” she said, casting a glance at Elpis that she couldn’t interpret. “And intensely devoted to those you love. You’re an even, stable plot of earth, boy. People can depend upon you and know you will not cause them to stumble or trip. If they do, they know you’ll be there to help them back on their feet once.”

Elpis’ heart swelled. Yes. That was Ardyn exactly. The man she loved more than the world itself.

“You’re too responsible, however,” Nenat said. “You blame yourself for everything, even if you had nothing to do with it.”

Ardyn smiled crookedly and shrugged a shoulder. “Guilty. Let the Fulgurian strike me where I sit.”

“Oh, shut up,” Nenat said.

Despite herself, Elpis found she was anxious. “What do you make of us both, grandmother?”

Nenat studied both of them, Elpis first, then Ardyn. She held her silence for what felt like forever. Then she sighed once more and said, “You’re both thickheaded fools who put others before themselves, at the cost of your own lives.” She narrowed her eyes at them. “I see something of Bahamut in both your stars. Perhaps because you’ve been Chosen. In any case, you both desire to do great things and save this world, even if it means losing your own lives.”

Silence stretched between her and Ardyn as they both let that sink in. They couldn’t deny it was true.

“And yet,” Nenat continued, “you’ve both found each other. You should appreciate how rare that is. Most times, I would say your pairing would have many troubles in their relationship. But in just the last few minutes we’ve been together, I’ve seen your man make you laugh easily, and I’ve seen you anchor and ground him in the midst of his worries. You stabilize each other. You are both unusual in this world, and you’ve found comfort in that similarity. He relaxes you and reminds you to enjoy life; you reassure him and do not run from his uglier aspects.

“You,” she said, pointing her pipe at Ardyn, “are known to be needy and sickeningly sentimental in relationships. You don’t love easily, just as your lady does not trust easily, but when you do love, it nearly consumes you.”

Ardyn grinned and Elpis decided not to stop him from saying whatever was on his mind. “I don’t mind being consumed by El.”

Nenat gave him a withering glare. “What are you, a boy just beginning to sprout a beard? Keep that to yourself.”

Elpis snorted and bumped her shoulder against Ardyn’s.

“He’s clearly won your trust,” Nenat said drily. “I don’t entirely understand it, but somehow, you both work. It’s clear you speak to each other on a level the rest of us will never understand. As well as speaking to each other in the normal way. So many people think being in love is easy--pah. Fools. A true relationship takes work. No one ever fits perfectly together.”

“Wise words, ma’ma,” Ardyn said. He had leaned in close to Elpis again, close enough that she could feel his body heat through her clothes.

Elpis cleared her throat and tried to rein in her thoughts. “Thank you, grandmother.”

“You can thank me by taking yourselves out of my sight,” Nenat said. “Pathetic. You’re both well into adulthood, act like it.” There was a sparkle in her brown eyes that told Elpis she was joking, mostly.

“What do I owe you?” Ardyn asked as he stood and helped Elpis to her feet.

Nenat waved a hand. “If you never disgrace yourselves around me again, I’ll consider that payment enough.”

Ardyn smirked as he looked at Elpis in a way that was decidedly disgraceful. Her entire body became hot in seconds. “I cannot promise that, ma’am, but thank you all the same.”

The woman huffed. “Ridiculous.”

They both slipped their sandals back on and bade Nenat welcome to the city and a good night. Slowly they made their way through the winding paths through the ruins, each lost in their own thoughts as they surveyed the city they were helping to slowly rebuild. Ardyn kept a gentle hold on Elpis’ hand the entire way home.

Only once they were back in the privacy of their bedroom and sitting before her mirror did Elpis finally ask, “A gil for your thoughts?”

Ardyn began unpinning the scarf from her hair. “Is it stupid of me to say I’m less reassured than I was before we spoke to her?”

“Mm,” Elpis said, considering. “I’m not sure. Why?”

He shook his head as he set the last pin down on her low vanity and slipped the yellow scarf from her head. “She seemed bemused by how well we... fit. It made me nervous. She said people of our sort were supposed to have many problems, but you and I haven’t.”

“We argue,” Elpis countered gently. “We do have disagreements sometimes. But we always come back to each other in the end.”

“She made it sound deeper than that,” Ardyn said quietly as he began undoing Elpis’ coiled braid.

This was the problem with outsiders learning of a tribe’s ways, Elpis reflected. A match casting was only meant to be loose guidelines instead of a set of strict rules. She knew how to take Nenat’s words; Ardyn did not. He took them and ran with them and considered them sacred. Elpis took them as things to be conscious of, but not necessarily worry over.

“Ah, my dearest Ardyn,” Elpis said affectionately when he finally loosened her hair. She turned to face him and slipped her arms around his shoulders. “That was actually a very good casting. She didn’t declare that Ifrit should rise from the ashes and strike our pairing down where we stand.”

He blanched. “Is that a possible outcome?”

Smiling, Elpis kissed the tip of his nose. “For some,” she said. “Not us.”

Ardyn sighed, resting his forehead against hers as he pulled her close by the waist. They took a moment to simply enjoy the presence of the other, to ignore the day’s troubles and worries and exist in the moment. Then he said, “Nothing in my life has ever been this easy, El. That is why I worry.”

“Nor has it been such for me,” Elpis said quietly. “So then, does it not make sense that we should be simple for each other? Our lives are complicated enough. We don’t need to be as well.”

Ardyn blinked, then smiled the private smile he reserved solely for her. “There’s that annoying practicality she mentioned,” he teased.

Elpis playfully shoved him and laughed as he dragged her down to the floor with him. Ardyn rolled on top of her and pinned her wrists down, grinning wolfishly. Elpis gazed up at him, taking in his blue eyes, his dark hair, the line of his nose and jaw and his sensual lips, and felt nothing but love.

“Ah,” Ardyn said, his gaze on something below her arm. Elpis leaned up to see the stones from Nenat had fallen out of her bag. Ardyn frowned. “She didn’t give me any.”

“She wouldn’t,” Elpis said gently. “You’re not of the desert. I can tell you what they are.”

“No,” Ardyn said quickly, then paused to kiss her hands once more. “Some things are not meant for my ears. I accept that.” He smiled slowly as he set a hand on the back of her neck. “Besides, you’re the greatest treasure I could ever want, El. Anyone can pick up a precious stone from the ground. Only I get to have you.”

Elpis stared at him in shock before managing, “Are you trying to make me swoon like some heroine in a grand story?”

He chuckled as he nuzzled her cheek with his nose. “Is it working?”

Her eyes fluttered close. “Yes.”

“Good.”

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a shameless excuse for fluff, then turned into something of a fun worldbuilding exercise. I also wanted to practice putting down how I feel Ardyn and Elpis work as a couple. They're both stupid and hardheaded, but they're especially stupid and hardheaded for each other, and somehow that balances everything out. 
> 
> Yes, this was inspired by the fact we learned Ardyn's birthday. I never set a date for Elpis for the reason that we never knew Ardyn's birthday, but since we do now, I decided to have fun with it.
> 
> I didn't want to use the actual Zodiac signs, as I felt that was twisting canon just a tad too far--and frankly I also didn't want to mention our Solar System planets like Mercury or Venus. So instead I set the Astrals as presiding over birthdates and attributes. Titan, of course, would be the Astral of the earth element. Hopefully it works.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
